Kickstarter fund helps filmmaker to celebrate West Texas Jazz

Rich Lopez | jrlopez@mrt.com

Published 9:20 am, Friday, January 15, 2016

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Courtesy of the West Texas Jazz Society, this undated vintage photo features Howard Alden on guitar, Jack Lesberg on bass and Phil Bodner on clarinet. Leonnig hopes to capture the 50-year history of jazz in West Texas with his new documentary 'Sure Proud You All Could Come: West Texas Jazz at 50.' less

Courtesy of the West Texas Jazz Society, this undated vintage photo features Howard Alden on guitar, Jack Lesberg on bass and Phil Bodner on clarinet. Leonnig hopes to capture the 50-year history of jazz in ... more

Photo: Via Facebook.

Kickstarter fund helps filmmaker to celebrate West Texas Jazz

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The West Texas Jazz Society will celebrate 50 years in 2016. To celebrate a half-century of music appreciation and concerts in the Permian Basin, David Leonnig is taking a closer look at the organization's history in his documentary "Sure Proud You All Could Come: West Texas Jazz at 50." But with such an undertaking, he's hoping other jazz and film enthusiasts can help him to make the movie.

With most of his interviews completed, Leonnig is shooting for a May premiere at this year's annual jazz party. He's created a Kickstarter campaign to help him raise the $20,000 needed to complete the film. When he decided to become a digital storyteller in 2008, Leonnig didn't expect to find the story of jazz here in the desert.

"I had no idea they would become part of the script," he mentioned on the campaign page. "Nor did I know that Odessa and Midland would become the backdrop for a 50-year history of classic jazz."

Thus the film would highlight the unique presence of jazz over the years and the concerts that have featured key players in the scene such as Bucky Pizzarelli, Warne Vache', Johnny Varro and more.

To read more about Leonnig's work on this film, visit his campaign on Kickstarter here. This year's West Texas Jazz Party will be May 20-22 at the MCM Elegante hotel in Odessa. Visit wtjs.org for more about the society.